Hurlshort

Uh, wot? I thought it was more like the original than anything.

Redundant man is redundant. Seriously though, I have no idea what your post is referring to.

I am also referring to quantifiable impact, and there are separate quest lines, unique dialogue, different influences on characters, and the ending that is all influenced by your origin. It is your opinion that they weren't good enough, but they were there. Affecting the main storyline, at least as dramatically as you seem to want, is an unrealistic expectation. That would make it six different games.

1 Exact same thing I did as a human mage. 2 How does that make anything different? Its 2-3 hours of extra gameplay per origin, the beginning tutorial section and a smaller resolution later on. And its all happening in areas you've already turned upside down if you've been thorough. Its exactly what I expected it to be and IMO its a complete waste of resources. That's at least 10 hours of non-tutorial gameplay thrown out of the window. Your best friend was a dwarf commoner ruffian? Look, you went into the experience expecting it it suck, and it sucked for you. I'm telling you that it is your impression isn't shared by everyone. You weren't happy with it, I'm sorry to hear that. For me, I played the role of the dwarf commoner from the start until the end of the game. The game made it easy for me to stay in character, I never felt like I had become a human mage or an elven pansy. I was very happy with the origins.

As a dwarf commoner, I got to return and help my sister and mother make a better life for themselves, I had to face my former best friend, and at the end of the game I was made a paragon. Pretty good stuff. I mean, did you guys expect entirely different plots altogether? Of course the main storyline was unchanged, that would make it a separate game altogether.

I disagree, my origin as a Dwarf commoner made quite a difference on the storyline.

Ok, well I'm glad to hear you didn't write it off for being a subscription game. We'll just have to agree to disagree on TOR. If it really does launch in spring, it won't be long before we see who is right. I'm not entirely convinced myself that it won't flop, I'm just saying I'll give Bioware the benefit of the doubt since I've been happy with everything else they've done. I'm a bit surprised they want to launch in Spring, I'd like to see them run at least a year of closed beta, then a good three to six months of open beta. Given how big a launch this will probably be, they need to be fully prepared.

So what is your opinion on WoW?

You have claimed that the game is going to flop and that this is a commonly held opinion due to game play videos. Then you said that the game will sell like crazy at release (which I had also said), but it will lack staying power (which I had said is the biggest obstacle earlier.) "What will matter is the flood of previews and reviews before launch." - This was a simple response to your opinion that the game is a mess. We don't have any real idea what the game play will be like or how it will be received until we see a lot more evidence. You are making a very premature stab at it.

Do you want to clarify this statement then, because that is where this whole thing started.

I better start working out again.

That's actually what I've said the entire time, so, uh yeah. What was your point again?

Us forumites represent an extremely small percentage of gamers. If the videos went viral and there was a ton of bad press circulating then you'd have an argument. As is, a few people whining about it is not going to make a difference in the sales. What will matter is the open beta and the flood of previews and reviews right before launch, which again is still close to a year away.

You typically have a near infinite amount of characters and classes you can create. There is often a limit on how many you can make on one server, but you can create more by switching servers.

I never said you had a strawman, I said you had no ground to stand on. Do you really think gameplay videos make or break a game this big?

My opinion is that TOR will fly off the shelves. If WAR and Age of Conan can move over a million units in the first month, I'd say TOT can probably triple that. It will definitely come down to staying power, and we really won't know how good it will be in terms of retention until we at least see some action in the open beta. WoW wasn't some behemoth in development. It wasn't until folks got into the open beta and realized what a polished gem it was that it really started to shine. I'd say that TOR's greatest obstacle is having a clean launch and a polished game. The expectations are high. If they rush it, they are probably going to fail.

How about: You get to be a Jedi/Sith and call yourself Luke Skyknobber/Darth Anus?

Oblarg, It is a bit hypocritical to go after Volo about legitimate refutations and strawmen when your own statements don't really have any ground to stand on.

Be careful of the spokes. Anything in particular you're on the fence about? I just don't get this. Not to sound harsh or anything but isn't the fact that it is an Obsidian product, and you spend a good amount of time hanging out on their forums, enough to push you over the fence? I get not buying an Obsidian game if it doesn't interest you, but if it does interest you, I would think that would be enough to seal the deal. I mean, if they don't sell games, we don't have a forum anymore.

TW was a buggy mess. Most of the people I know who ended up enjoying it did so after the massive 1.7 gig patch they released. Even then, it's an acquired taste, like an independent project in the vein of Mount & Blade or Minecraft. The big thing is it had a lot of potential, and that is why a sequel might be really great.

The MMO audience has been consistently growing for about 10 years without hitting a ceiling. There are plenty of quality games that have launched in the genre and done well. As for the quality of TOR, it is probably a year away from even being in beta, so it's a bit early to write a eulogy.

Do you mean a blip on the radar? A blimp is rather large compared to a blip.

I pre-ordered mine yesterday. There is a midnight sale for it, but I'm probably not going to make it. I'd have to take a day off work to really handle that. There were unable to order the Collector's Edition, which was a bummer.

For the same reason the US military would have trouble rolling through rural areas taking out meth factories. Lots of ground to cover, resistant local population, and way too many hiding places.